Wednesday, 3 December 2014

Lion City Lit: Woolf Works

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore. Lion
City Lit explores literary life in our own
backyard. This week Raelee Chapman visits Woolf Works, a coworking space dedicated to women, and named after
Virginia Woolf, who famously declared, in her extended essay A Room of One's Own, that women must have
a space of their own to produce art.

Where does a woman go to write if she
cannot write at home? There are myriad reasons why writing at home can be
complicated, and full of distractions. So I was curious when a writer friend of
mine told me about Woolf Works, and I went along to an open day - a chance for
women to bring their moleskin notebooks and laptops and explore the space.

Michaela Anchan, from
New Zealand, founded the space on the second floor of a renovated shophouse in in
Joo Chiat, in July 2014 and has made it a haven for female writers and bloggers.
She opened the space as she saw a need for women to
work productively out of the home: “As a
mother to young kids I struggled with finding the mental space to get longer
focused periods of work done. It was all too easy to attend to the needs of the
rest of the family first and put my own work last.”

Michaela is keen to attract more writers, and to establish a community of female writers, supporting and critiquing each other. The space
also has an upper attic area, The Den, which is suitable for workshops, small
critiquing groups, book clubs, book launches, and poetry slams.

By mid-morning ten or more women had streamed in to
view the space and all were sitting comfortably and quietly in the communal
work areas tapping away at their laptops and enjoying the excellent coffee.

Shasta Grant, an
American living in Singapore, uses the space two mornings a week. “I love the design - it's beautifully
decorated - very mellow (but upbeat) and minimalist. I find my time here is
super productive.” Shasta is currently finding an agent for a memoir while
working on some essays and short stories. She has forthcoming work in Cream City Review, Jelly Bucket and
Wigleaf.

Clarissa N G heard about Woolf Works via
Twitter. She told me: “As a mother of two young children, it’s not
always conducive to work from home and coworking seems like an obvious
alternative.” Clarissa is
working on a magic-realism novel and has work forthcoming in The MacGuffinFall 2014 Issue.

Like me, Malaysian writer Wan Phing was
there for the open day: “Today was my first time at Woolf Works, and I will
definitely be back! It is very conducive to working. The tables are well spread
out with plenty of socket points. The long benches are cosy, and a seat by the
window will ensure lots of inspiration! With lots of things to eat along
Joo Chiat Road.” Wan’s recent short fiction appears in Rojak, an anthology from the Singapore Writers Group.